Erik Steinskog
@eriksteinskog.bsky.social
Associate professor of musicology at the Department of Arts and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen. Former saxophone player, always philosophy reader, currently popular music fan (and more).
It’s getting late here, and I’m heading for bed. Yesterday – that is, Sunday, November 9 – was Father’s Day in Norway. It’s not something I’ve ever really celebrated, but this time it’s the first Father’s Day since my father died. It is a different world now that he’s no longer in it…
November 10, 2025 at 12:31 AM
It’s getting late here, and I’m heading for bed. Yesterday – that is, Sunday, November 9 – was Father’s Day in Norway. It’s not something I’ve ever really celebrated, but this time it’s the first Father’s Day since my father died. It is a different world now that he’s no longer in it…
The evening and night November 9-10, 1938, the Kristallnacht took place. 256 synagogues were burned down and more damaged, over 7000 Jewish businesses destroyed, and at least 91 – most likely more – Jews were murdered. Here is John Zorn’s album Kristallnacht (recorded November 9 and 10, 1992).
Shtetl (Ghetto Life)
YouTube video by John Zorn - Topic
www.youtube.com
November 9, 2025 at 6:16 PM
The evening and night November 9-10, 1938, the Kristallnacht took place. 256 synagogues were burned down and more damaged, over 7000 Jewish businesses destroyed, and at least 91 – most likely more – Jews were murdered. Here is John Zorn’s album Kristallnacht (recorded November 9 and 10, 1992).
My evening music is Rotary Connection's 1969 album Songs - Minnie Riperton (born on this day back in 1947) on vocals.
Respect
YouTube video by Rotary Connection - Topic
www.youtube.com
November 8, 2025 at 10:24 PM
My evening music is Rotary Connection's 1969 album Songs - Minnie Riperton (born on this day back in 1947) on vocals.
Today it is 55 years since the recording of Alice Coltrane's album Journey in Satchidananda (except for the track "Isis and Osiris," which was recorded July 4, 1970).
Alice Coltrane - Journey in Satchidananda (1971) [Full Album]
YouTube video by Cubensis Records
www.youtube.com
November 8, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Today it is 55 years since the recording of Alice Coltrane's album Journey in Satchidananda (except for the track "Isis and Osiris," which was recorded July 4, 1970).
"“He promised things that Europeans take for granted, but Americans are told are impossible,” said the Dutch environmentalist and former government adviser Alexander Verbeek in the wake of Tuesday’s election."
Europeans recognize Zohran Mamdani’s supposedly radical policies as ‘normal’
Critics of New York City’s mayor-elect have said his pledges of free bus service and universal childcare are unrealistic, but in Europe it’s a given
www.theguardian.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:04 PM
"“He promised things that Europeans take for granted, but Americans are told are impossible,” said the Dutch environmentalist and former government adviser Alexander Verbeek in the wake of Tuesday’s election."
"All modern language and music courses are being suspended for new students at the University of Nottingham."
Music and modern languages courses suspended at University of Nottingham
In a statement the institution also says it is "proposing to reduce its nursing offer".
www.bbc.com
November 6, 2025 at 3:53 PM
"All modern language and music courses are being suspended for new students at the University of Nottingham."
My contribution to zombie-studies today was re-reading Alan Lomax’s 1938 piece "Haitian Journey." There is still so much work to do…
November 5, 2025 at 12:00 AM
My contribution to zombie-studies today was re-reading Alan Lomax’s 1938 piece "Haitian Journey." There is still so much work to do…
"Aside from her album Translinear Light (2004), released three years before her death, the only recordings she made in her last three decades were of bhajans, Hindu devotional chants sung mostly in Sanskrit and distributed among her followers on self-produced cassette tapes."
The Spiritual Jazz of Alice Coltrane | Adam Shatz
Alice Coltrane reinvented her adoptive Hinduism by interweaving it with the music of the Black church.
www.nybooks.com
November 4, 2025 at 11:39 PM
"Aside from her album Translinear Light (2004), released three years before her death, the only recordings she made in her last three decades were of bhajans, Hindu devotional chants sung mostly in Sanskrit and distributed among her followers on self-produced cassette tapes."
"In the past week, Scott has donated $172 million to three Historically Black Colleges and Universities — Howard University ($80 million), Virginia State University ($50 million) and Alcorn State University ($42 million)."
MacKenzie Scott’s HBCU Donations Surge, With $172 Million In New Gifts
Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott’s blockbuster philanthropy continues, with announcements of new donations totaling $172 million given to three HBCUs.
www.forbes.com
November 4, 2025 at 11:11 PM
"In the past week, Scott has donated $172 million to three Historically Black Colleges and Universities — Howard University ($80 million), Virginia State University ($50 million) and Alcorn State University ($42 million)."
"Howard University announced today a transformative $80 million in unrestricted giving from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, marking one of the largest single contributions in the University’s history."
Howard University Announces Historic $80 Million Unrestricted Gift from Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott to Advance Access and Excellence
Howard University announced today a transformative $80 million in unrestricted giving from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. The gifts include $63 million to Howard University and $17 million to the How...
thedig.howard.edu
November 4, 2025 at 8:51 PM
"Howard University announced today a transformative $80 million in unrestricted giving from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, marking one of the largest single contributions in the University’s history."
Copenhagen: Bilal is playing in DR Studie 2 on November 11. I think it will be good and will be there. I think you should consider too. (and no, I’m not paid by DR to say so!).
Bilal | DR Koncerthuset | Køb billet nu
Den GRAMMY-vindende sanger, sangskriver og producer Bilal vender tilbage til Danmark til efteråret og indtager Studie 2.
www.drkoncerthuset.dk
November 3, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Copenhagen: Bilal is playing in DR Studie 2 on November 11. I think it will be good and will be there. I think you should consider too. (and no, I’m not paid by DR to say so!).
Had my first lecture on "Beyoncé - The Queen of America" tonight. Approximately 30 in the audience, and they seemed to enjoy themselves. It was so much fun. #iLoveMyJob
November 3, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Had my first lecture on "Beyoncé - The Queen of America" tonight. Approximately 30 in the audience, and they seemed to enjoy themselves. It was so much fun. #iLoveMyJob
Hah, hah!
Congratulations, Andrew Cuomo!
I know how hard you worked for this.
I know how hard you worked for this.
![Red Trump-style graphic with images of Donald Trump and Andrew Cuomo.
At the top it says, "I'm going to pick [Cuomo]." - Donald Trump, 60 Minutes Interview, 11-2-25
Then beneath it
TRUMP ENDORSES CUOMO](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:j5hrotody26iqi24hcusufxu/bafkreib7wnor7hl45ryvmifde4sov74rrnexa3iecbyu7zxjx6brrslsiy@jpeg)
November 3, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Hah, hah!
Bob Dylan, The Bootleg Series Vol. 13: Trouble No More 1979-1981 - released November 3, 2017.
Slow Train (Live at the Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, CA - November 16, 1979)
YouTube video by Bob Dylan - Topic
www.youtube.com
November 3, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Bob Dylan, The Bootleg Series Vol. 13: Trouble No More 1979-1981 - released November 3, 2017.
I loved Georgi Gospodinov's Death and the Gardener.
Writing about a son’s vigil at his dying father’s bedside, Georgi Gospodinov examines what parents and their children reap and sow.
A Bulgarian Novelist Explores What Dies When Your Father Does
Writing about a son’s vigil at his dying father’s bedside, Georgi Gospodinov examines what parents and their children reap and sow.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 3, 2025 at 9:44 PM
I loved Georgi Gospodinov's Death and the Gardener.
"November always seemed to me the Norway of the year." (Emily Dickinson)
November 1, 2025 at 2:09 PM
"November always seemed to me the Norway of the year." (Emily Dickinson)
Formerly known as prince...
October 30, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Formerly known as prince...
Tonight we watched It Was Just an Accident (2025, Jafar Panahi), winner of this year's Palme d'Or at Cannes. It was good; you should watch it.
It Was Just An Accident - Official Trailer
YouTube video by Madman Films
www.youtube.com
October 30, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Tonight we watched It Was Just an Accident (2025, Jafar Panahi), winner of this year's Palme d'Or at Cannes. It was good; you should watch it.
Job alert!
"The Department of Music at Hunter College of the City University of New York invites applications for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor of Musicology with a specialization in African American music."
"The Department of Music at Hunter College of the City University of New York invites applications for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor of Musicology with a specialization in African American music."
Jobs | City University of New York
cuny.jobs
October 29, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Job alert!
"The Department of Music at Hunter College of the City University of New York invites applications for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor of Musicology with a specialization in African American music."
"The Department of Music at Hunter College of the City University of New York invites applications for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor of Musicology with a specialization in African American music."
"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." (Matthew 22:39, KJV).
Vance says it is "totally reasonable and acceptable" for people to not want to live next door to people who speak a different language than they do
October 29, 2025 at 6:22 PM
"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." (Matthew 22:39, KJV).
Reposted by Erik Steinskog
Fantastic article in which actual experts on AI and higher education cut through the nonsense surrounding the infinite garbage engines and expose a system captured by the techbro sales pitch. "A general ban is necessary, but nobody dares to say so."
Belgian AI scientists are advocating *against* the use of AI in academia. “If independent thinking is no longer encouraged at university, where would it?” apache.be/2025/10/24/b...
Belgian AI scientists resist the use of AI in academia
Several AI scientists have published an open letter calling for a ban on AI use by students.
apache.be
October 25, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Fantastic article in which actual experts on AI and higher education cut through the nonsense surrounding the infinite garbage engines and expose a system captured by the techbro sales pitch. "A general ban is necessary, but nobody dares to say so."
Knausgård on The Brothers Karamazov.
Some of the characters in “The Brothers Karamazov” rank all the way up there with Shakespeare’s creations, but it isn’t dominated by a single protagonist like Hamlet or Othello, Karl Ove Knausgaard writes. It is the opposite: a collective novel.
The Light of “The Brothers Karamazov”
Although Fyodor Dostoyevsky wrote with wildness and urgency, he patiently insisted on asking an essential question: What are we living for?
www.newyorker.com
October 22, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Knausgård on The Brothers Karamazov.
Reposted by Erik Steinskog
On why the AI industry is trying to turn words into numbers.
Welcome to Big Tech, corporate-owned chatbots, and the totalitarian fantasy of AI gurus
commentary from @tjheffernan.bsky.social
commentary from @tjheffernan.bsky.social
Welcome to Big Tech, corporate-owned chatbots, and the totalitarian fantasy of AI gurus - Halifax Examiner
Sam Altman notes that GenAI blurs the border between the authentic and the artificial, and this is the point: democracy cannot function without truth, reality, expertise, and facts, and the AI industr...
www.halifaxexaminer.ca
October 20, 2025 at 1:19 PM
On why the AI industry is trying to turn words into numbers.
Reposted by Erik Steinskog
Canvas, the course management platform used by my university (and many others), has been down all day due to the AWS outage. It has prompted some good discussions about how much critical infrastructure is now outsourced to a few companies.
Amazon Web Services outage shows internet users ‘at mercy’ of too few providers, experts say
Amazon Web Services outage shows internet users ‘at mercy’ of too few providers, experts say
Crash that hit apps and websites around world demonstrates ‘urgent need for diversification in cloud computing’
*
Business live – latest updates
Experts have warned of the perils of relying on a small number of companies for operating the global internet after a glitch at Amazon’s cloud computing service brought down apps and websites around the world.
The affected platforms included Snapchat, Roblox, Signal and Duolingo as well as a host of Amazon-owned operations including its main retail site and the Ring doorbell company. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
October 20, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Canvas, the course management platform used by my university (and many others), has been down all day due to the AWS outage. It has prompted some good discussions about how much critical infrastructure is now outsourced to a few companies.
I am saying good night with esperanza spalding doing "If I Was Your Girlfriend" - live at BET Awards 2010. Yes, enjoy. Good night.
Esperanza Spalding - If I Was Your Girlfriend (Prince, BET Awards 2010)
YouTube video by Dani Ela
www.youtube.com
October 18, 2025 at 10:29 PM
I am saying good night with esperanza spalding doing "If I Was Your Girlfriend" - live at BET Awards 2010. Yes, enjoy. Good night.